Predictors of hospital stay in normotensive acute pulmonary embolism: a retrospective pilot study

• Main Authors: Osama Mukhtar, Oday Alhafidh, Mazin Khalid, Jaspreet Kaler, Ebad Rahman, Binav Shrestha, Manal Bakhiet, Sumit Dahal, Bikash Bhattarai, Praveen Datar, Omar Abdulfattah, Vijay Gayam, Joseph Quist, Danilo Enriquez, Frances Schmidt
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2018-05-01
• Series: Journal of Community Hospital Internal Medicine Perspectives
• Subjects: Pulmonary embolism; severity index; prognosis; risk stratification; hospital stay
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/20009666.2018.1466602

Introduction: The aim of our study is to determine the clinical, biochemical, and imaging factors that affect the duration of hospital stay in patients admitted with normotensive acute pulmonary embolism. Methods: This was a single-center retrospective study conducted in a community hospital in New York metropolitan area for patients admitted from October 2015 to October 2017. Results: A total of 79 patients were included, the mean age was 55.76 (SD = 17.33), 29 cases were males (37%) and 50 cases were females (63%). Among all patients, 17 cases had short length of stay (LOS) (≤2 days) and 62 cases had long LOS (>2 days). There were statistically significant differences in age (p = .041), presence of lung disease (p = .036), number of comorbidities (p = .043), and pulmonary embolism severity index (PESI) scores (original and simplified; p = .002 and .001, respectively). Logistic regression analysis showed that PESI score significantly predicted long LOS (OR 1.067, 95% CI [1.001, 1.137], p = .048). Similarly, sPESI significantly predicted long LOS (OR 0.223, 95% CI [0.050, 0.999], p = .050). Both regression models were adjusted for age, lung disease, and number of comorbidities. Conclusion: Both original and simplified PESI scores were statistically significant predictors of duration of hospital stay. Patients with multiple comorbidities or with chronic lung disease were also likely to have prolonged hospital stay. None of the cardiac biomarkers affected the duration of hospital stay, neither did the presence of right ventricular dysfunction nor treatment modality.